


roses have thorns, yet and i'm holding them still

by meloncoly



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood and Injury, Dark, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, No Plot/Plotless, Out of Character, Roses, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28635552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meloncoly/pseuds/meloncoly
Summary: Jihoon comes home with a bouquet of roses.
Kudos: 1





	roses have thorns, yet and i'm holding them still

**Author's Note:**

> Why, hello there!
> 
> This writing idea came out of nowhere but I still decided to write it down because hey, I like to write stuff that makes me start to think while writing. 
> 
> Also, I tried to write in a rather vague manner, giving you room to interpret the story in many different ways.

Once he closed the door, Jihoon leaned against it. With his head tilted down, he looked into nothingness. His knees weakened as he slided down until he sat on the ground. He slightly glanced to the left, eyes landing on a bouquet, wrapped in pink paper to keep the inside secure and to make it easier to hold onto. From his position, red crowns of flowers peeked from the pink wrapping. Red roses, the most classic flowers people like to give to loved ones. 

Jihoon pushed himself up with his free hand. He slipped out of the sneakers, not bothering to even open up the shoe laces. After he reached his small kitchen, he gently placed the bouquet on the counter. Once he had free hands again, he got rid of his padded jacket that was previously protecting him from the cold weather. Then, in his living room, he looked through the shelves and cupboards. In one of the cabinets, he found the item he was looking for. 

A classic white vase of porcelain, appearing grey because of the dust covering it. No font lettering, no fancy colors. Not even patterns of flower shapes like the ones his mother owned. It was a welcome gift from his friends to celebrate his first apartment. 

Back in the kitchen, Jihoon dusted off the vase and filled it up with the water coming from his sink. Soon, he unwrapped the roses, the pink paper rustling because of the movements. He took a glance at the card which got lost in the flowers. 

_-For Jihoon_

The sender of the bouquet didn't bother to write their own name down. After all, they personally gave it to Jihoon just some time ago. But the receiver didn't spare a second glance at the card and just threw it to the pile with the pink paper. 

With a knife, he shortened the stems of the roses, sometimes putting them in the vase to see how it looked. He had to remove a few of its leaves to make them all fit in the vase. Oddly enough, he never even had the intentions of cutting off the thorns. During this process, he hummed the tune of a melody.  
Finally satisfied with the appearance of the roses in the vase, he started to clean up the kitchen. The leftover of the roses, the card and pink paper, the strings and even the tapes on the paper that hold the bouquet together, all separated according to their material. 

Jihoon placed the roses on his white coffee table. He sat on his couch and leaned back. The red petals were eye-catching in the black and white environment of his living room.  
He leaned his upper body forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Jihoon picked out one of the roses of the vase. His fingers placed so that he could avoid the thorns. It was a little wet due to the water. He twirled the pretty red flower between his fingers. Different shades of red were showing under the light that was coming through the window.  
Without a second thought, he slowly wrapped all of his fingers around the rose stem. Ever so gently, its thorns only poked the skin of his pale hand. 

However, he slowly tightened and tightened his hand even more until it was a fist, clenching onto the flower. So tight, that even his arm started to tremble and shake. The previously straight stem started to move to different directions. The stem under his fist stayed in place while the stem holding the blossoms twisted away from his face. 

Even after he felt the pain coming from his hand, he didn't dare to let go. He couldn't see what pierced through his skin first. Most likely, it was the fault of the thorns, or perhaps it was the fault of his own long nails he didn't bother to cut yet. The pain was noticeable but his expression didn't change because of it. Blood was slowly leaking out similar to dramatic movies. The red liquid ran two ways, like a river which was parted into different smaller streams. One was running down his wrist and arm, staining his clothes in a reddish color. The other blood stream ran to the back of his hand. It collected itself there until it fell in droplets down, landing on the eyes of the reflection of his own face, created by the white surface of the table. 

His attention was now on the blood puddle on the white table. With every drop of blood the puddle got bigger. Once it covered half of the face’s reflection, he let out a shaky breath. 

His body felt tense. While his face looked emotionless on the reflection, his jaw held a weird tension that made his teeth chatter. His arm with the bleeding hand never stopped to tremble. His shoulders were stiff and start to create even more pain. 

«They shouldn't love me», he finally whispered to himself. In the next moment, he grabbed the vase full of the roses he just previously put together with so much effort. He walked towards the kitchen while continuing his self talk with a quiet voice. «I’m a horrible person».

The beautiful source of color was gone now, replaced by a blood red puddle near the edge of the polished white table. Well, it gave color to this monochromatic room.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't ask me why I chose Woozi for this. I have no idea either.  
> But I hope you enjoyed my writing and I will see you guys again 
> 
> Stay healthy and safe, you are loved


End file.
